The Lunch Lady
Phường Đa Kao, District 1 (Quan 1)
Thanks to the wonders of Anthony Bourdain, the Lunch Lady of Saigon is now one of the most popular joints to visit in the city. She doesn’t have a fixed menu and instead serves a soup that changes daily based on whatever ingredients she chances upon at the morning market. We still have no idea what we had, but it sure was big on flavour. Nothing ground-breaking, just some local realness, albeit with a clear hint of MSG. She also serves fresh and fried spring rolls that you shouldn’t miss out on! Though getting there from the city centre was quite a hunt, the Lunch Lady was still well worth a detour. You know it’s legit when even locals flock to her unpretentious hole in the wall along the street
Pho 2000
1-3 D Phan Chu Trinh
Pho 2000 must’ve probably been the most touristy restaurant we checked out on our trip. The service wasn’t bad at all, but the offerings, including their Pho, were just plain ordinary. A bit of a let down considering the restaurant’s claim to fame that some random American by the name of Bill Clinton was once their customer and had two bowls of Pho. I guess the influx of people that followed over the years has taken its toll on the quality of their food. Reminds me of a piece of advice we got from a local: only have meals at places with low chairs, because that’s when you know it’s the real deal
Bến Thành Market
Lê Lợi, Bến Thành
Seeing your pictures surely made me reminisce on the days I spent working in Saigon late last year. We even went to the same places! Thank you for posting these pictures. If you decide to go back to Saigon, have dinner at The Secret Garden. The view is spectacular and their food is great too. Keep inspiring people to travel and stay awesome 🙂
Happy Birhday, Jake! Keep doing your thing. God bless you 💛
happy birthday idol. more legit playlist to come on your web! cheers!